CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati doctor who wrote the book on saving choking victims through his
namesake Heimlich maneuver has finished a new book: a memoir.

Henry Heimlich’s views on how the maneuver should be used and on innovations that he has created
or proposed have put him at odds with some health professionals.

But he hopes the memoir will preserve the technique that has cleared obstructions from windpipes
of choking victims throughout the world for four decades.

“I know the maneuver saves lives, and I want it to be used and remembered,” said the 94-year-old
retired chest surgeon. “I felt I had to have it down in print so the public will have the correct
information.”

Much of his autobiography,
Heimlich’s Maneuvers: My Seventy Years of Lifesaving Innovation, focuses on the maneuver,
which involves thrusts to the abdomen that apply upward pressure on the diaphragm to create an air
flow forcing food or other objects out of the windpipe.

Thousands of deaths reported annually from choking prompted Heimlich in 1972 to seek a solution,
he said.

During the next two years, leading a team of researchers at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, he
successfully tested the technique by putting a tube with a balloon at one end down an anesthetized
dog’s airway until it choked. He then used the maneuver to force the dog to expel the
obstruction.

“By 1974, I knew I needed to get the maneuver to the public as soon as possible to save lives,”
he said.

He appeared on radio and TV shows and started hearing from people who had used the maneuver or
been saved by it.

The maneuver made headlines again this month when actor Clint Eastwood, at a golf event in
Monterey, Calif., used the technique on the tournament director, who was choking on a piece of
cheese.

Heimlich says the maneuver is very effective when used correctly, but he doesn’t support
American Red Cross guidelines calling for back blows followed by abdominal thrusts in choking cases
that don’t involve infants or unconscious victims.

Red Cross officials say evidence shows that using multiple methods can be more effective, but
Heimlich says blows can drive obstructions deeper into a windpipe.

The American Heart Association backs abdominal thrusts.

Neither organization supports Heimlich’s view that using the maneuver to remove water from the
lungs could save drowning victims. Both recommend CPR.

“There is no evidence that abdominal thrusts are effective for drowning victims,” said Dr.
Robert Neumar, chairman of the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee of the American Heart
Association.

Heimlich, who lives in an assisted-living facility, responds to letters and email about his work
and makes guest appearances with Heimlich Heroes.

Designed to teach young people how to use the Heimlich maneuver, the program allows him to keep
at his passion for saving lives.